Definition

The Uniform Crime Reporting Program defines robbery as the taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force or threat of force or violence and/or by putting the victim in fear.

Trend

National Volume, Trends, and Rates

In 2002, there were an estimated 420,637 robberies in the Nation. This estimate indicated a decrease of 0.7 percent when compared to the 2001 offense estimate and 5.9 percent and 36.3 percent decreases when compared to the 1998 and the 1993 estimates, respectively. (See Table 1.) Robbery accounted for 3.5 percent of the Crime Index in 2002 and comprised an estimated 29.5 percent of the violent crimes. (Based on Table 1.)

The 2002 robbery rate of 145.9 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants reflected a 1.7 percent decrease from the 2001 rate. Robbery rates in 2002 compared to figures from 1998 showed an 11.8 percent decline.  Compared to 1993 rates, 2002 rates demonstrated a 43.0 percent decrease.

Regional Offense Trends and Rates

The UCR Program divides the United States into four regions:  the Northeast, the Midwest, the South, and the West. (More information concerning UCR area definitions can be found in Appendix III.) In 2002, robbery data collected regarding the Nation's four regions reflected the following:

The Northeast

The Northeast, which comprised 18.8 percent of the total United States population in 2002, experienced 19.2 percent of the Nation's estimated robberies. The estimated number of robberies remained virtually unchanged from the 2001 figure; however, the robbery rate of 148.7 offenses per 100,000 population reflected a slight decrease (0.5 percent) from the 2001 rate. (See Tables 3 and 4.)

The Midwest

The Midwest, accounting for 22.6 percent of the Nation's population, had an estimated 19.5 percent of the country's robberies. The number of robberies that occurred in this region decreased by 1.1 percent from the 2001 figure, and the rate per 100,000 inhabitants (126.1) declined by 1.6 percent. (See Tables 3 and 4.)

The South

With 35.8 percent of the Nation's population, the South experienced an estimated 38.5 percent of the country's robbery volume. The number of robbery offenses in this region declined 0.7 percent from the 2001 figure, and the rate per 100,000 inhabitants (156.8) decreased 2.0 percent from the 2001 rate. (See Tables 3 and 4.)

The West

The West, comprising 22.8 percent of the U.S. population, accounted for an estimated 22.8 percent of the robbery volume. This percentage reflected a 0.9 percent decrease from the 2001 figure. The region reported a robbery rate of 146.0 offenses per 100,000, showing a 2.5 percent decline from the 2001 rate. (See Tables 3 and 4.)

Population Groups: Trends and Rates

The UCR Program often presents crime statistics in aggregations representing various population groups. An explanation of these population group classifications can be found in Appendix III.

Cumulatively, the Nation's cities experienced a 1.5 percent decrease in robberies in 2002. Among the Nation's cities, those with populations of 250,000 or more inhabitants reported the largest decline in robbery offenses—2.1 percent. Cities with populations of 10,000 to 24,999 inhabitants reflected a 3.3 percent increase from the number of robberies in 2001, and cities with 10,000 or fewer people experienced a 0.7 percent increase. Also in 2002, the country's suburban counties experienced a 1.8 percent increase; rural counties reported a 0.8 percent decline in the number of robberies. Additional data for population groups can be found in Table 12.

Collectively, the Nation's cities reported a robbery rate of 208.1 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants. Among the Nation's cities, those with populations of 250,000 or more people experienced the highest rate of occurrence for robbery—395.2 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants. Cities with populations of less than 10,000 people reported the lowest rate of robbery in 2002—54.2 offenses per 100,000 inhabitants. The country's suburban counties had a rate of 70.7 robberies per 100,000 people; rural counties experienced a rate of 17.7 robberies per 100,000 population. Rates for population groups can be found in Table 16.

Offense Analysis

Supplemental data concerning robberies reported by law enforcement to the national UCR Program in 2002 revealed the following:

Robbery by Weapon

Firearms continued to be the weapon used most often in the commission of robberies. In 2002, offenders used firearms in 42.1 percent of the robberies reported to the UCR Program. Another 39.9 percent of robberies involved strong-arm tactics—hands, fists, feet, etc. Offenders used knives or cutting instruments in 8.7 percent of the offenses and other weapons in 9.3 percent of robberies. (See Table 2.22.) A state-by-state breakdown of weapons used in robberies in 2002 is provided in Table 21.

Dollar Loss

In 2002, offenders took an estimated $539 million from victims. Nationwide, the average monetary value of property stolen during a robbery was $1,281. Banks lost an average of $4,763 for each robbery, and commercial houses (including supermarkets, department stores, restaurants, taverns, finance companies, hotels, motels, etc.) lost an average of $1,676 per robbery offense. The estimated value of losses incurred from robberies of residences averaged $1,340, and robberies on streets/highways averaged a loss of $1,045 per robbery offense. Additionally, losses from gas or service stations and convenience stores averaged $679 and $665, respectively, per robbery. (Based on Tables 1 and 23.)

Robbery Trends by Location

When compared to 2001 volumes, the number of robberies that occurred in 2002 decreased at every location type except residences. Residential robberies increased 4.4 percent from the 2001 figure. The greatest decline in the number of robberies—7.6 percent—occurred at gas or service stations, and the smallest decrease—1.3 percent—occurred at commercial houses. Unspecified locations (denoted as miscellaneous) showed an increase of 2.7 percent. (See Table 23.)

Percent Distribution

Robberies of victims on the street or highway accounted for 42.8 percent of the total number of robberies that occurred during 2002. Robberies that happened in commercial houses (restaurants, taverns, hotels, etc.) and residences accounted for 14.6 percent and 13.5 percent, respectively, of reported robberies. Robberies perpetrated in convenience stores, gas or service stations, and banks comprised 6.5 percent, 2.7 percent, and 2.3 percent, respectively, of the total number of robberies. The remaining 17.7 percent of robberies occurred at other venues. (See Table 23.)

Clearances

In 2002, law enforcement agencies cleared by arrest or exceptional means 25.7 percent of robberies reported to the national Program. (More information concerning clearances, including what constitutes a clearance by exceptional means, can be found in Section III of this report.) Collectively, the Nation's cities cleared 25.0 percent of robbery offenses. Law enforcement in suburban and rural counties cleared 29.5 percent and 41.4 percent, respectively, of reported robberies. (See Table 25.)

Regionally, the Northeast had the highest rate of clearance for robbery—31.0 percent—followed by the South at 26.0 percent. Law enforcement in the West cleared 24.7 percent of reported robberies, and the Midwest cleared 21.5 percent of this offense. (See Table 26.)

Clearances and Juveniles

According to UCR Program reporting procedures, clearances involving both adult and juvenile offenders are classified as adult clearances. Therefore, the statistics provided in this narrative are for clearances which involved only juveniles. In 2002, juvenile offenders (those under 18 years of age) accounted for 14.1 percent of the Nation's robbery clearances. In cities collectively, juveniles comprised 14.2 percent of robbery clearances. Additionally, arrests of juveniles for reported robbery offenses in suburban and rural counties, cleared 14.4 percent and 7.4 percent, respectively. Table 28 provides additional information concerning juvenile clearance data.

Arrests

Total Arrests

Law enforcement made an estimated 105,774 arrests for robbery offenses in 2002. Robbery arrests accounted for an estimated 4.7 percent of the arrests for Crime Index offenses and 17.0 percent of the arrests for violent crimes. (See Table 29.)

Arrest Trends

Robbery arrests for 2002 decreased 0.8 percent nationwide from the 2001 arrest total. Arrests of adults (persons 18 years of age and older) decreased 0.8 percent, and arrests of juveniles (persons under age 18) declined 0.9 percent over the 2-year period. (See Table 36.) By gender, the 2-year trend showed that there was a 1.1 percent decrease in the number of males who were arrested for robbery and a 1.6 percent increase in the number of females arrested for that offense. (See Table 37.)

A 5-year comparison of robbery arrests for the Nation showed an overall 8.3 percent decline. The number of adults and juveniles arrested for robbery in 1998 compared to the number arrested in 2002 reflected decreases of 3.8 and 20.7 percent, respectively. (See Table 34.) By gender, the 5-year trend showed that there was an 8.5 percent decrease in the number of males who were arrested for robbery and a 6.8 percent decrease in the number of females arrested for that offense. (See Table 35.)

A 10-year overall comparison revealed that robbery arrests fell 28.4 percent since 1993. (See Table 32.) The number of adults arrested for robbery was down 24.6 percent, and the number of juveniles arrested during the same period declined 38.4 percent. (See Table 32.) By gender, the 10-year trend showed that there was a 29.4 percent decrease in the number of males who were arrested for robbery and a 17.3 percent decrease in the number of females arrested for that offense. (See Table 33.)

Arrest Rates

Nationally, the robbery arrest rate for 2002 was 37.7 arrests per 100,000 inhabitants. (See Table 31.) Collectively, the Nation's cities experienced a robbery arrest rate of 46.9 per 100,000 people. Suburban and rural counties reported 20.8 robbery arrests per 100,000 inhabitants and 9.2 per 100,000 population, respectively.

Regionally, the robbery arrest rates were 44.7 arrests per 100,000 inhabitants in the Northeast; 32.1 arrests per 100,000 inhabitants in the Midwest; 35.5 arrests per 100,000 inhabitants in the South; and 40.0 arrests for robbery offenses per 100,000 individuals in the West. (See Table 30.)

Distribution by Age, Sex, and Race

During 2002, a total of 76.9 percent of all persons arrested for robbery were adults (persons 18 years of age and older). (See Table 38.) Further, 61.4 percent of the persons arrested for robbery were under the age of 25. (See Table 41.) The majority of the arrestees, 89.7 percent, were males. By race, 54.1 percent of persons arrested for robbery were black, 44.1 percent were white, and 1.7 percent were of other races (American Indian, Alaskan Native, Asian, or Pacific Islander.) (See Tables 41, 42, and 43.) Breakdowns of male and female arrestees by age are presented in Tables 39 and 40.

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Figure 2.9

Robbery

Percent Change from 1998

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Figure 2.10

Robbery Categories

Percent Change from 1998

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